Key result
Normal human pulmonary arterial branching follows predictable morphometric rules across ~73 million terminal vessels.
Observational
From a resin cast of a normal pulmonary arterial tree, the diameter, length, and number of branches in each order were determined for arteries from 25 to 300 micrometer in diameter. Histological sections 120-micrometer thick were cut from a normal human lung in which the pulmonary artery had been injected with a mixture of ink and gelatin. Similar measurements were made on arteries from 10 to 70 micrometer in diameter, and the mode of origin of the capillaries was studied. The data thus obtained were found to correspond reasonably well to values previously estimated by extrapolation from data for arteries of 100 micrometer or more in diameter. The branching rules apply down to arteries of about 10-15 micrometer in diameter, the estimated number of which is 73 million. Distal to these vessels, capillaries arise either directly from small arteries or indirectly via precapillaries which are given off in great numbers and diverse patterns from the small arteries
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Keith Horsfield (1978) conducted an observational in Normal pulmonary arterial tree. Morphometry of small pulmonary arteries was evaluated on Diameter, length, and number of branches of pulmonary arteries. Morphometry of the normal human pulmonary arterial tree demonstrated that branching rules apply down to arteries of 10-15 micrometers in diameter, with an estimated 73 million such vessels.
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